Missing Boat Found with One Man Clinging to Side

By AP&nbsp|&nbsp

Posted: Mon 1:43 PM, Mar 02, 2009&nbsp|&nbsp

Updated: Mon 6:29 PM, Mar 02, 2009

A missing man found clinging to an overturned boat was rescued Monday off Florida's Gulf Coast, but the search continued for two NFL players and a third man aboard who didn't return from a weekend fishing trip.

Survivor Nick Schuyler, a former University of South Floridaplayer, told rescuers that the 21-foot boat was anchored when itflipped Saturday evening in rough seas and that the others gotseparated from the boat, Capt. Timothy M. Close said. Since then,Schuyler, who was wearing a life vest, had been hanging onto theboat found by a Coast Guard cutter 35 miles off Clearwater.

The boat belongs to Oakland Raiders linebacker Marquis Cooper,who along with free-agent defensive lineman Corey Smith and formerSouth Florida player William Bleakley, remained missing. The search area is now "substantially smaller," based on wherethey found the boat and Schuyler, Close said. Searchers hadpreviously covered 16,000 square miles of ocean, and the CoastGuard said it did not receive a distress signal.

Coast Guard photos showed Schuyler wearing a yellow jacket andorange life vest and sitting on the hull of the capsized boat as arescue cutter approached. A helicopter lowered a basket to haul himaboard.

Schuyler was conscious but appeared weak as he was being takenoff a helicopter at Tampa General Hospital and placed on astretcher. His father said his son was in serious but stablecondition and that he "looks OK."

"He's got some cuts and bruises. He's dehydrated," said StuartSchuyler.

Schuyler's mother, Marsha Schuyler, said her son told her thathe survived by thinking about how he didn't want her to go to hisfuneral.

The family's joy at him being found alive was tempered by thesearch for his friends.

"We still have three men missing, and we're not going to talktoo much until we find these guys," said his father, StuartSchuyler. "We're all praying for them. These guys are all veryclose friends."

Close said the Coast Guard would search for the men for "quiteawhile."

Ray Sanchez of Tampa, a cousin of Cooper, said he was told themen were together "for a good period of time" after the boatflipped. He said the family was confident the Coast Guard wouldfind them.

"My cousin's a powerful swimmer," he said.

The water temperature in the area was 68 degrees. After 18 hoursin 64-degree water, hypothermia will set in, said Coast Guard PettyOfficer 2nd Class James Harless. How long someone can survivedepends on how big the person is, he said. Cooper is 6-foot-3, 230pounds, and Smith, 6-foot-2, 250 pounds.

The four friends left Clearwater Pass early Saturday in calmweather, but heavy winds picked up through the day and the seas gotheavy, with waves of 7 feet and higher, peaking at 15 feet onSunday. A relative alerted the Coast Guard early Sunday after themen did not return as expected.

The men were aboard an Everglades-manufactured boat, which isbuilt with compressed foam encased in Fiberglas, making itdifficult to sink. The weather had improved, with waves subsidingto 6 to 8 feet, National Weather Service meteorologist Todd Barronsaid.

However, Bob Zales, president of National Association of CharterBoat Operators, said waves that high can capsize a boat the size ofCooper's.

"A boat that size, personally, I wouldn't get out any fartherthan 20 or 30 miles offshore," Zales said. "But I see people allthe time 40, 50 miles offshore."

Cooper and Smith, who were teammates with the Tampa BayBuccaneers in 2004, have been on fishing trips before, according toRon Del Duca, Smith's agent.

The 29-year-old Smith of Richmond, Va., had 30 tackles,including three sacks, and an interception in 12 games last seasonfor the Detroit Lions. He also played for the San Francisco 49ersand was a standout at North Carolina State.

Cooper, 26, played college ball at Washington, and has spentfive seasons with five different teams, appearing in 26 games withthe Buccaneers in 2004 and 2005. He's played sparingly since. Hegrew up in Gilbert, Ariz., and his father Bruce is a prominentsportscaster for KPNX-TV in Phoenix.

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